My GDPI Experience and few learnings!

My GDPI Experience

My GDPI journey began with SIBM, Pune followed by SCMHRD, Pune and IIFT, Delhi. This was followed by CAT result and few more GDPIs at NITIE Mumbai, MDI Gurgaon and IMT Ghaziabad.

SIBM had group discussion on a very generic topic ‘Should ragging be there to break ice between seniors and juniors’. It was a decent GD except the moments when 1-2 people tried to over dominate the group and led to genesis of fish market in GD. This was followed by a group task where stress situation was created on the group while it strived to achieve the task given. PI was decent enough with most of the part of the interview having questions on my QA score in SNAP (it was high from their point of view), my work experience, what value addition i am looking for and few numerical questions. SCMHRD GD was a case base GD with very small group and everyone got decent airtime and was pretty satisfied. Interview in SCMHRD was profile oriented and most of the questions were on same lines.

Then the season went ahead with second round procedure of IIFT, MDI, IMT and NITIE with GDs being conducted on topics testing general awareness and our view on matters which are of importance to industry and hence our ability to participate and arrive at conclusions as manager. Finally, the results started pouring in and i made it to one of the most coveted B-Schools of the country, NITIE and that was the time when i decided to put full stop on my dating with CAT year after year.

Going through personal interviews in all the B-Schools, i could find a good similarity in them testing on similar lines. Some of them can be listed as:

v  Why do i want to pursue MBA?

v  What value addition i am looking for through 2 year regular program?

v  What are the qualities in me which i can correlate with managerial qualities?

v  According to me, what a manager is supposed to do after joining industry?

v  My awareness on the topics relevant to corporate world.

v  How much i know myself?

v  My ability to put my point subtly but with assertiveness.

v  What am i expecting from the specific institute?

v  Why am i quitting a decent job?

v  Work related questions to know how much i learnt during my professional life.

v  Technical questions testing my learnings during engineering days.

GDPI Tips for Future Aspirants

• I will suggest to maintain a file/doc/notebook where you can maintain all the latest happenings you go through in news/newspapers so that you can refer to it at the time of GDPI.
•  Introspect deeply well before the day of GDPI. It cannot be done in a day.
•  Be positive and do not think about the result while answering questions or participating in GD. Just be natural and give your best shot.
•  Know your strengths and weaknesses in and out.
•  Explore how can you leverage your strengths as a manager and project it well in the GDPI round.
•  Be well verse with your work experience achievements and graduation stream subjects.
•  Attend training sessions from experts so that you can take feedback and improve continuously on your performance.
•  Go through all latest economic affairs.
•  Study about the college well, its strengths and profiles offered there by companies.
•  Never get demotivated by what people around you say.
•  Be firmly determined and remain in constant touch with people who have made it in past and try to learn from their experience.
• Enter in GD 4-5 times with genuine and unique points which were not put forward by anyone else.
• Try to bring in a new perspective in the discussion if it is going monotonous.
• Try to moderate the group if you think it is going on lines of what is said to be a fish market.
• Do not be in haste to start the GD unless you are very sure about the topic.
• Focus on dressing style, sitting etiquettes, soft skills and be precise in answers in PI.

What do we mean by Choosing a career in today's world?

Does it mean that we want to become a doctor , an engineer or a manager ? 
Certainly not !!

Today, with the opening up of various sectors in the market , we have a plethora of career options to choose from when it comes to building the profession. Earlier, we had certain gaps in the market but today these gaps have been filled up by the introduction of newer areas of specialization and new courses which not only cater to the rising demand of these fields in market but also provide us an opportunity to build a career in the direction in which we always wished to.

The various options available to us vary from MBA , animations, finance, law , medical, media, hospitality , real estate, mass communication, digital processing , telecommunication , education consulting and to many more. With the demand across the globe moving towards specialized professionals, it is important for people to focus and choose an area of expertise from the initial days only.

A person needs to be focussed to a great extent to realize and pursue a career path which he believes to be best for himself taking all factors* into consideration. This means that we no longer need to compromise with our interest , passion and capabilities. We can select a career path that best fits us and can keep us motivated to work and excel. For sure , we will be at our best while pursuing such a career because we will be doing something that excites us, something that is aligned with my passion and thus increasing our chances multifold to achieve success. This is also facilitated by the easy availability of loans and other scholarships available which help us to virtually take any course of our choice without being deviated by the financial burden it will enforce on our families.

Another advantage which this brings with it is that even parents do not need to push us to pursue a career that is safe. This in turn makes us independent in decision making process from the early days and hence, generates more self confidence in us.

However, this requires us to be more informed with correct and latest facts, industry trends, career options, realistic happenings in various paths available and work conditions in these options. Simultaneously, this needs us to be more active on career guidance front.

So, this is the right time for all of us to sit alone for sometime, introspect , explore and achieve what we have always wished to. Moving on the same line for myself , i shall be sharing few things which i know in upcoming posts which might be helpful for all my friends reading this blog to take a more informed decision when it comes to career.

I don't know whether i will be able to throw the required amount of light for every individual , but as i have said, pursue something which interests you and since this interests me, i shall continue writing in this space on career opportunities just to share what i know.

* Will try to discuss these factors in depth to the best of my knowledge in next post followed by something closest to my heart i.e. MBA

Regards,

Varun